From the Fort Lauderdale Garden Club website (www.flgc.org):
12 things you can do in your yard that will reduce your footprint on the planet
1. Buy Slow Release Fertilizers and do not Fertilizer within 15 feet of the canals.
They might appear more costly - but you use less and they last longer. Florida's sandy soil does not hold water. It passes rapidly through the ground and into our water table. Slow release fertilizers give off diluted chemicals over a longer period of time and the amount is consumed and filtered by the time water reaches well depth.
2. Reduce Garbage and Compost
Save 1,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year. Compost is the best gift you can get for your plants. Using your yard clippings means fewer trips the city has to make to the dump and greater savings for all.
3. Plant a Tree
Plant trees local to your area that will reduce carbon dioxide and create clean air to breathe. One tree can suck up 2,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year.
4. Let Mother Nature help out - Get a Rain Barrel - Get another!
You can capture rainfall from your roof and use it to water your plants. They are easy to make and highly efficient. Plus rainwater is free from fluorides and chloride chemicals so your plants do better! If we get a 1/2 rainfall, one downspout can capture 55 gallons of water. MAKE YOUR OWN RAIN BARREL http://www.moringagardencircle.org/rain-barrels/RainBarrelHandout-11-6.pdf
5. Buy Products and Plants Locally
Buy locally and reduce the amount of energy required to drive your products to your store.
6. Use a Push or Electric Mower
Use your muscles instead of fossil fuels and get some exercise. Save 80 lbs of carbon dioxide and x $ per year. Or try an electric mower.
7. NatureScape - Plant Native Plants
Native Plants like it here and they survive In spite of our weather. Natives also supply food and shelter for our native wildlife. Bring butterflies and birds back into your yard!8. Buy or Raise Organic Food
The chemicals used in modern agriculture pollute the water supply, and require energy to produce. Besides It is better tasting and better for your health. Remember how good a homegrown tomato tastes?
9. MULCH - use environmentally friendly Eucalyptus or Melaleuca
Save the Cypress and the Pine trees from being ground up and choose eucalyptus mulch that does not harbor Insects and decomposes in the soil. Put it around your plants leaving at least 1 Inch of free space near the stems so they will not rot and apply the mulch 3 Inches thick.
10. Water efficiently
Established plants do not need to be watered daily - In fact it weakens them and they establish surface roots. Give your plants 1 inch of water twice a week during the growing season and once a week during the winter. It is deep roots that help them survive!
11. Get a birdbath
The water shortage effects wildlife that depends on fresh water in puddles and ponds to survive. Share what you have with the other members of our plant.
12. Share your knowledge and encourage your neighbors to do these things. Then, compliment them when you see them making a difference.
Remember --- It takes a village! We are not in this alone.
Other yard tips can be found in the Florida Yards and Neighborhoods Handbook which you can view online http://hort.ufl.edu/fyn/handbook.pdf
